Rev. Michael Phillips’ Sermon for October 24, 2004

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation” by Michael Phillips

This past summer my daughter, Gracie, and I went to Mexico for nine days. We spent most of our time in the City of Puebla, attending language school. Puebla claims about 300,000 residents, is historically significant, and lies about 2 hours southeast of Mexico City. I chose Puebla for language school because it is located in the general area from which most of the parishioners from Guadalupe come. For instance, Dario Maranon met his wife, Leo, is a hospital just outside of Puebla where she was completing her nurse’s training.

While there, Gracie and I certainly improved our language skills, but we learned a lot more. Walking the streets, breathing the air, and eating the foods which are typical of that region, and are all familiar to our new neighbors here in Poughkeepsie, has given me a new level of understanding about who they are, how they behave, and what they value.

I’d like to share two stories that come from this part of Mexico with you. Most of you will be at least mildly familiar with them. They occur just ten years apart, but stand in stark contrast to each other, and represent two distinct ways of functioning in the world. They are instructive for us as we set our course faithfully today.

Our classes ran from Monday to Friday. Classroom grammar and vocabulary in the morning, then lunch, followed by “seeing the sites” with our guides in the afternoon. On Wednesday afternoon the school sponsored a field trip to the city of Tlaxcala (spelled with a “T”) an ancient city about an hour and a half away. I knew nothing about the city, but was eager to learn and experience all I could during my brief stay.

The state house on the village square in Tlaxcala hosts an enormous mural depicting the entire history of Mexico. The colors are bright and bold. The scenes are lavishly painted. The whole thing is the work of a single artist who has been working on it for over fifty years. (When he dies, they can write on his tombstone “He finished one mural.”) Early on, the mural shows the Spaniard, Hernan Cortez, in full battle gear and helmet, embracing four local chieftains, whose tribes lived in the vicinity of Tlaxcala, and were under the thumb of the Aztecs and their empire. Every few months the four tribes were required to pay tribute of food, manufactured goods, and human beings for sacrifice to the powerful Aztecs in Mexico City.

Cortez formed an alliance with the four chieftains and the members of their respective tribes. In the deal, Cortez would gain hundreds and hundreds of seasoned warriors, along with their local knowledge of the Aztecs and the Mexican terrain. In turn, he would supply advanced military technology in the form of gun powder and the horse, the sixteenth century version of the Humvee. If victorious, the four chieftains stood to win their freedom, and perhaps a little revenge on the Aztecs, and Cortez would be able to send gold and other forms of wealth to his patrons sitting on the Spanish throne. Off they all went to conquer the Aztecs!

Cortez was clever. Rather than march directly into Mexico City, he went out of his way so that the army would approach the City by passing between two beautiful, enormous, snow-capped, and sacred volcanoes. His entrance would be both dramatic and intimidating.

The last town before the volcanoes was Cholula (where Dario and Leo met.) Cortez tried to enlist their help in the conquest as well, offering to include them in the coalition. But the Cholulans were suspicious of these bearded strangers who spoke a bizarre language and controlled these massive beasts called horses. The rules of hospitality, Cortez and his men were put up in the central plaza while his Tlaxcalan companions camped outside of town. Unbeknownst to Cortez, a Cholulan runner was dispatched to the Aztecs for advice about what to do with the strangers. The powerful and somewhat arrogant Aztecs were not at all threatened, but nevertheless, replied that it would not offend them if the Spaniards were simply eliminated.

A late night raid on the plaza ensued. As the fighting escalated, the Tlaxcalans heard the battle and rushed in from their camps, trapping the Cholulans in the middle. That night, 4,000 Cholulans, including women and children, were slaughtered and later placed in mass graves for burial. Mexican history books typically refer to them as the Cholula “traitors.” Cortez and his alliance continued on their quest to defeat the Aztecs, and after a two-year siege of Mexico City, celebrated victory in the year 1521.

Just ten years later (this is now the second story,) a few miles north of the Aztec capital on the morning of December 9, 1531, an Aztec peasant who had converted to Christianity, named Juan Diego, awoke before the sun and started out on his daily rounds. Passing by the hill of Tepayac he was drawn to its summit by an unusually haunting chorus of birds. At the top of the hill a vision appeared of a woman dressed in blue with golden stars in her shawl, and standing on a crescent moon. The virgin of Guadalupe told Juan Diego to forget about his other chores and instead, go directly to the bishop, to the powerful Spanish bishop, the bishop of the conquerors, telling him that it is her will that he build a magnificent cathedral on the top of Tepeyac for the poor and defeated Mexicans.

The bishop listened to Juan Diego but told him he needed assurance. He needed a sign that the instructions truly came from the Virgin herself. Three days later, on December 12, he returned to the Bishop’s residence with the sign – roses in full bloom – in the middle of December!! As Juan Diego opened his poncho, allowing the roses to cascade to the floor, the bishop saw, imprinted on the inside of his poncho, an image of the Virgin, exactly as she had appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac. Shortly thereafter, construction began on the cathedral.

This is a story of cooperation between and across divisions as the bishop, the virgin, and the peasant all must learn to trust each other in order to literally build the church in the Americas. Here is what I find so fascinating about the story. Let’s assume that the Virgin has the ability to appear to whomever she chooses. If all she was concerned about was getting a cathedral built, her most expedient option would have been to go straight to the bishop, appear in his residence herself and tell him to get the job done. He was the one with the power, the money, the clout, and the authority to build a new cathedral. He had access to the architects and engineers.

But look what she does. She appears to a middle-aged peasant, well outside the walls of the conquered city. She gives him her message, and instructs him to interact with the powerful bishop. It will require courage on the part of Juan Diego. It will require trust and humility on the part of Bishop Zumarraga, if the church is going to be built. The Virgin had a plan for building the Christian community in the Americas. In spite of all their differences: language, culture, economic level, religious background, race, etc., they are able to work through all of it and accomplish their task together.

By contrast, the story of Cortez and the four chieftains is about building alliances with some, and setting oneself against others, in order to increase power for domination and control. Cortez learned shortly after his arrival in Mexico that his forces on their own would not be sufficient to defeat the vast Aztec military. He would also need to gain knowledge of the local landscape and the particulars of the Aztec nation and culture. You have to know your enemy to defeat him. In the end, the Spaniards, the four chieftains, and their tribes come out victorious and wealthy. But thousands upon thousands of others were slaughtered, and thousands more enslaved. The legacy of Cortez is five hundred years of poverty for the vast majority of the Mexican people, eventually leading to the mass migration of Mexican workers to northern developed countries such as the United States in the later part of the twentieth century and the first part of the twenty-first.

These two stories then highlight two basic ways of working with others. The first story is all about strategizing to amass as much power as possible so that those involved can get what they want by force. It is a way that creates “us’s” and “them’s” and then risks winning or losing. If the strategy has been effective, the power will be superior to the other and victory will follow. With victory comes control of the losers which is usually followed by wealth. The underlying problem with this method is that is requires a constant maintenance of power to keep the losing population under control, because no one likes to lose. Those who lose, will plot and plan and sacrifice so that someday they will garner the power to overcome their oppressor, and turn the tables. This method sets up an ever recurring struggle for who is on top, and who is on the bottom.

The second story shows us an alternative. It requires much more patience and maybe even more work, for to truly work beside someone who is wired differently from you requires a great deal of energy to listen, understand and respond in ways that moves everyone forward together. But this method and its hard work pay off because it creates a world in which there are only “us’s.” It creates bonds of mutual respect and understanding. It creates mutual reliance, so that everyone comes out a winner. It also requires commitment, as the great risk is that one party will become frustrated and give up, vilifying the former partner. But with a little help and strength from the Holy Spirit, the church can be built, and communities of wide diversity can become unified.

Now some of you may have heard that Fr. Arnulfo has expressed a desire to work solely on the other side of the Hudson next year which would mean his leaving the Guadalupe congregation. He and his wife own a home in Kingston. His children are in school there, and he works part time at Holy Cross Church there as well. He would like to begin ministry in the Highland/West Park area, and not have to drive all the way to Poughkeepsie every other day or to cross the bridge. In a meeting with the leadership committee of Guadalupe where this was discussed, the leaders considered various options for them if Fr. Arnulfo’s plans become reality. Option 1: they could hire a new Hispanic priest and keep things structured exactly as they are now, or option 2: they could fold back into Christ Church, sharing a rector, office staff, vestry, budget, and treasurer. For a couple of years now they have said that they wish to become a fully functioning Episcopal Church. They have expressed a desire to work more closely with their Anglo neighbors and get to know them better. Their first choice would be for us to join together and become a single congregation again, worshiping in two languages, but proclaiming our unity in Christ.

There are many, many complicated details to be worked out before this could happen, but if it does, we need to bear in mind the two stories from their country, the story of Cortez and the story of Juan Diego. We must behave in such a way, and structure our work in such a way, that we do not follow the way of Cortez. We do not need some to be winners and others to be losers in this congregation. We do not need some to build alliances with some in order to increase their power base to dominate and control. Instead what we need is to hear the words of the Virgin herself, who insists that we work together as one, in order to build the church of Christ. The Virgin of Guadalupe is the patron saint of the Latino congregation and we need to make that more than window dressing. We need to take her seriously and learn what she has to teach us. We need the courage and confidence of Juan Diego in order to step out into a new place. We need the humility and faith of Bp. Zumarraga, putting ourselves at the service of God’s Holy Spirit and the gospel.

We shall see what the future brings, but I am excited and hopeful for the future. This parish might have the opportunity to witness to something very special in the City of Poughkeepsie. The Spirit can lead us all to a new place together.

Amen.

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